Cre8asiteforums Staff Taking Time Off

For the next 24 hours few days, the staff at Cre8asiteforums will not be keeping an eye out for the Cre8tive Community. We’re taking the day off to spend in contemplation of matters that are really vital and meaningful to us. (Believe it or not, spammers are not meaningful or vital.)

We, the staff of Admins, Moderators and regular Members of the Cre8tive Community, care about each other. We come from every country. We speak many languages. We have friends, family and loved ones who rely on us and perhaps look up to us as teachers, supporters, heroes or comrades.

What Really Matters

Each of us is more than our work. Our passions are as varied and unique as ourselves. The moderators and I are growing in our awareness for how our work affects our world. Our business practices, for example, reflect on our respective industries. We understand that our best practices beliefs apply to how we interact with our world and everyone we meet.

For the next day or so, we’re doing something we've never done in the over 5 years of being online as Cre8asiteforums.

Each of us is taking time to contemplate, meditate or pray for healing, love, justice and kindness. Staff members have chosen to take time off or share some thoughts here.

We have much on our minds.

Peace. Global warming. Are there positive was to conquer poverty? How to stop child slavery, genocide, mass starvation? There are issues where we live, such as killing off an animal species. We seek good news to share that will uplift our hearts and offer hope.

It’s our planet and we want to turn it upside down, shake out the nonsense and bring back the humans.

I've been thinking very deeply lately about this, and I'm glad we're taking a public stance like this one. We all need to start thinking deeply about the world that shapes us and how we can shape it for the better.

One such topic that's been on my mind a lot lately is cheeseburgers. You see, no matter which way you cut it, a cow will always produce some meat. We're living in an ever more wasteful society and I say we should stand up together and say "give us more cheeseburgers". Yes some cuts will yield different qualities of cheeseburgers, but that's OK. As long as we produce them, as long as we bring up the supply of cheeseburgers, people will find novel and innovative ways to use them. Imagine a world where malnutrition is eradicated because you can have a cheeseburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Imagine a world where instead of having bacon and eggs in the morning, you have cheeseburger and eggs. Imagine a world where instead of using milk to make protein milkshakes, you make cheeseburgershakes.

So come on everybody. Stand up with and loudly proclaim. I can haz cheeseburger!

All strength to your elbow, Pierre. I hope your beef/campaign succeeds. However it isn't enough. There is a more basic need than that. As they say, man (and I presume that includes woman) cannot live by bread alone. A more basic need is at least to have water. That's what I'll be pushing as I take my sabbatical.

The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, said last week that the position doesn't reflect Canada's traditional role on the international stage. "Canada is taking a position that is not the more classic perceived, Canada as the kind of the bridge builder, peacemaker, consensus maker," Arbour told the CBC.

This may sound like an April Fool's story, but I'm sorry to say it's not, and it's something that's turning my family's life upside down in California.

The California Dept. of Food and Agriculture intends to begin aerially spraying (from airplanes) 7 million people in the SF Bay Area beginning in August of this year. The cities set to be sprayed include places you may have visited: San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Monterey and others. These urban populations will be sprayed every 30 days for an undisclosed number of years with a combination of known carcinogens, mutagens, synthetics and tumorigens encapsulated in microscopic particulate plastic spheres which lodge in the deep lung and remain there forever. It is a situation of chronic exposure to severe toxins.

The CDFA began spraying last year in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties and 643 families reported immediate side effects which are documented effects of the biochemicals in the spray including respiratory problems, primary asthma attacks, vomiting, chemical skin rashes, disorientation, listlessness, eye irritation, disruption of the menstrual cycle and recommencement of menstruation in menopausal women over the age of 65. Additionally, the rivers and Pacific ocean (the watershed) was horribly fouled with a huge yellow foam and the Monterey Bay experienced a red tide of never before seen proportions. More than 600 seabirds washed up dead on the beaches, dogs and cats had to be put to sleep because of respiratory failure and beekeepers and gardeners reported massive cases of confusion and death in honey bee colonies.

The local governments are desperately trying to protect the people and the environment from this state government agency. Both Santa Cruz and Monterey have lawsuits open against CDFA. Nearly all of the cities set to be sprayed have resolved that they absolutely do not want to be sprayed. There are 5 Bills and 1 Measure being presented in an attempt to stop the next program of spraying before it begins in June, but the CDFA continues to hide behind an outright lie that they are spraying a 'harmless pheromone' and that it's fine to do this. We have been told, "there is no vote."

As it turns out, our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the pay of the spray manufacturer, Suterra LLC, the owner of which contributed some $150,000 to his political campaign. The CDFA's ag secretary was appointed by the governor and is also a financial contributer to him. Amongst them, they have managed to concoct a phony state 'emergency' because of a tiny, basically harmless moth called the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). They are getting massive millions in federal funding for the 'eradication' of this moth which is considered a completely negligible insect elsewhere in the world. Once upon a time, it was incorrectly classified as a Class A pest, so international trade penalties apply to regions where the moth is found. So, we're talking about money being at the root of this. Rather than correctly reclassify the moth, our government has decided to aerially spray a completely untested compound of chemicals on 7 million residents and the 315 million tourists who visit California annually. They were able to skip over the normal process of testing the chemicals and conducting an Environmental Impact Report because they declared this completely phony emergency.

As independent (not on the payola list) brilliant scientists from some of California's major Universities have stepped forward to prove, the LBAM has done zero damage to agriculture and has likely been here for decades and in New Zealand, it is kept completely in check by natural predators like birds, earwigs, bats, etc. The government is refusing to acknowledge this, and instead, has hired a notorious marketing firm to the tune of $500,000 to convince the public that it's okay to breathe carcinogens and plastic. Anyway, the bottom line is corruption and a total violation of our national and state constitution and the Nuremberg code which was established after WWII to prevent humans from ever being experimented upon again without their consent.

Not only don't they have our consent, we are outraged and all of the major newspapers in the state are covering this, uncovering the political corruption and downright deception that is creating this massive public health crisis in California. Of particular concern is that one of the chemicals in the spray is an endocrine disruptor that causes breast cancer. 3.5 million women will be sprayed with this and the Breast Cancer Fund is one of the groups trying to stop this. It's also completely illegal to test chemicals on children and pregnant women...a little baby nearly died last year in Santa Cruz from this...and we can expect miscarriages and birth defects to result from the spraying, in addition to cancers from the long-term repeat exposure to this stuff which remains in the air for 30-90 days after each spraying.

My husband and I are scared pretty much half to death about this, and in all of our non-work hours, we've been blogging about it at: http://www.veganreader.com.

If you'd like to read more about this issue, LBAMSpray.com is the main organization fighting this, but because the plan is funded by the Feds (USDA), we are not feeling very hopeful about stopping this, despite the public and civic government protest. We have never faced a graver issue in California, and if we don't manage to stop this, I believe it's going to become a government policy to spray urban populations across the country from low-flying planes. It's terrifying.

If there is anything Cre8 members can think of for us to do in our efforts to protect human beings and our precious environment, I'd surely love to hear from you. My husband is on the verge of putting me in the car and driving the heck out of here, but our whole lives are here in California...all our loved ones, everything we know and the prospect of becoming a refugee running from state to state in front of airplanes is overwhelming for me. Anyhow, I thank you all for taking the time to read this and would appreciate your thoughts if you have any.

Now that some states are running a lottery in which health insurance is the prize, (true story, i kid you not), I am going to spend time to contemplate matters that are gravely important to me...which is...how can I profit on the Internet from this? Hmmm...let's see...a series of web sites devoted to helping people pick the right numbers...or...an interactive site in which the user gets to spin a hamster wheel, and that causes numbers to be randomly popped out of the wheel....or...hmmm...need time to think. I'll be back later.

I never thought there'd be an opportunity here to voice one of my own thoughts which has concerned me over the years, and that is the percentage of right handed paper clips found in the average box of paper clips from your local stationery store. This may come as a bit of a surprise to everyone, but there can be as low as only 12% right handed paper clips in a box of paper clips - the rest of them being left handed paper clips.

Over the years, research has shown that the shift in the ratio of right handed to left handed paper clips is due solely where, (and how), they are packed in the world - and not down to some great Lefty Conspiracy, as I used to think for many years.

Paper clip packing plants in countries south of the equator, with winter in the temperate sub tropical zones, and Easter on a Tuesday every other year, have shown tendencies to put as much as 56.7% right handed paper clips in a box whilst packing by hand. This is mainly due to their adaptation from their usual agricultural activities of right handed crop planting.

However, in comparison, in more industrialized countries, where there they have more religious holidays in February and a natural aversion to Middle Of The Road music radio stations.... they have been known to pack as little as 9.6% right handed paper clips in one box* (*This can also be dependent on sun spot activity).

So, next time you buy a box of paper clips - see where it was made. Then, empty them out and see how many right handed paper clips you have.

Taking time away from the constant daily distractions to go inside ourselves may not be popular or understood by everyone, but oooh, so good for the soul and might result in some positive action to make a difference in this world.

Human beings have polluted and destroyed the environment for far too long. Animal species are disappearing as a result of our greed and selfishness. Polar bears might not exist for too much longer in the wild, Gorillas are losing their habitats to deforestation and poaching in Africa. Most of our medicines are made from plants found in the rain forests of South America which are quickly disappearing as well.

We are a nation of Consumers, quickly becoming a world of Consumers, caught up in validating our existence by accumulating more and more without thought to the earth around us.

One of the headlines in the news today: Doctors are stunned to hear that a popular drug for heart disease, Vytorin, is useless following new trials. This is AFTER the pharmaceutical company made over $5 BILLION on sales. To people with heart disease! Were has our humanity gone?

In the beginning there was only a gray background. We borrowed (stole) everyone's HTML so we could learn how to make our own web sites. We lied about our real identities. We were shy in those days. Even our spam was wimpy. Immature. Testing Internet waters.

Spammers started with simple spam emails that were so few and far between that you could hardly tell you were being spammed. In fact, historically speaking, the progression was foretold by none other than Monty Python in the famous "Spam" sketch from 1970.

It matters not, in today's in-your-face marketing agenda society, that we like or dislike email spam. As marketers, the bottom line, golden rule is this:

Rush in. Do whatever is the shortest route possible to satisfaction. Never, ever, expect to be fulfilled.

There is nothing ethical about spam. Spammers are the lowest form of life on the planet. In fact, some would go so far as to say spam is not a living thing at all. However, we've all seen spam take on a life of its own via the endless incarnation practice of "copy/forward" to friends.

To end this cycle, we could simply ignore junk mail but alas, some email clients have to warn us first. We're offered a choice. Keep or trash? I'm sick and tired of being asked and yet the moment I don't, a good behaving email gets tossed in with the low-life scum.

What are the causes of spam? Are spammers’ angry people? Do their egos lead them to believe that we're all interested in what they have to say? Could they not, before spamming these forums, ASK FIRST, to see if what to do or say is permitted? Do they not know how to read and therefore are too stupid to read our House Rules?

Do they think we get paid to be here, disabling them?

Many days I think to myself..."Kim, you could be doing something good for the planet." What prevents me from doing so? Spam.

If I and the moderators didn't come here every day, every hour, and every minute, no one would recognize these forums. Spammers with their naked celebrity pictures would have a field day here. People who still believe in "link farms" would pile in to beg for links. New web site owners would arrive, hour by hour, hawking their sites on everything from porn, to pills, to political statements.

What's missing from the brain of a spammer?

Compassion for others. Concern for the well being of our society. Wisdom. Integrity. Responsibility. Spammers aren't interested in dialog. Theirs is a one-side conversation.

Yes. In the global grand scheme of things, there are far, far more important and vital issues to be thinking about. People are in pain. Children are born into lives of slavery and starvation. Women are owned, raped and of less value than all other living things in some cultures. Not a day goes by when my soul doesn't ache.

Not a day goes by when I must fight off those who use words and images to try and force me to look at their spam emails, spam blog comments or spam posts. And all I want to do is show every spammer where they could be putting their time, money and energy.

People sometimes confuse me with a sunny side up egg, even though there isn't even the faintest resemblance. Although they are my distant decendants, I have evolved into so much more. So please, have some respect. :panic:

I'm appalled that a forum like Cre8asite, which prides itself in its civility, would spurt such vile and vicious misery over us spammers.

Do you think we like being the "bad guy"? Hellloooo!!

The fact of the matter is you need us. Look at all those moderator links in the footer; think those would be there without us, hmm? I think not! Two, maybe three moderators would remain and that's it. And how would you like that?!

And really, with the domino state of the Western economy at the moment, do you think you want us to pull out? Hm?

Think about it.... How about we pull the rug from under the anti spam effort? Remove the need for spam filters. Stop running our bot nets and have the trojan remover industry bail out.

And it doesn't stop there, now does it?

companies compiling email lists; and the people scanning for them; the people selling them

lead generators

lawyers from legal departments writing the zero tolerance policies the lead genertor companies they contract don't abide by

data capture from spam; believe it or not but people fill out forms... and that information in turn is sold too!

people paid to open accounts

people paid to send spam

the spam affiliates; the number of layers of companies pushing information through is HUGE

pink contracts with ISPs for special rates

...and so much more

See the way some bad subprime mortgage loans can trigger a flood of misery? Now think about collapsing profit models in multiple places at once.

I'm appalled that a forum like Cre8asite, which prides itself in its civility, would spurt such vile and vicious misery over us spammers.

You're appalled? I guess that makes us about even, I'd say. Its such a rare treat to be actually able to have a conversation with a genuine spammer. Oops! I made an oxymoron (anyway the last part of that word really fits your profession).

Do you think we like being the "bad guy"?

The word "like" would seem to imply you possess a conscience. Sadly, you do not. <So sad, so sad>.

The fact of the matter is you need us.

I need you about as badly as I need another hole in my head.

If I could send a severe electrical shock to your keyboard that would paralyze your fingers forever, I would.

Seriously, a violent reaction like this is no way to set as an example to our children who inherit our fine green Earth! Huge Volume Spike and Over 20% gain ... stop that....

We simply have to find a way to Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire .... hey! .... to function together. Come at it from a usability angle; how can we get your hydrocodone, vicodin, phentermin online WithoutPrescription bdlwj cdrsc 5o8cdvli6 what the flip! ...

Think about it.... How about we pull the rug from under the anti spam effort? Remove the need for spam filters. Stop running our bot nets and have the trojan remover industry bail out.

So i guess you are 100% right. I mean who would make guns and booms and concentration camps and anthrax if it wasnt for war? all those people out of jobs becasue there was no more War.... I see how it works.

Your argument is fundamentally flawed. You can not become a criminal and justify it becasue a police man is getting a job!

The fact of the matter is you need us. Look at all those moderator links in the footer; think those would be there without us, hmm? I think not! Two, maybe three moderators would remain and that's it. And how would you like that?!

Very different from Spam. Its kind like comparing stuffing someones car full of brochures to walking into a mobile phone shop and picking up a pamphlet on a particular brand of phone.

Look what you doing is not right. Dont try justify or defend it. If you gona do it do it but dont tell us that you are helping everyone in the process! Please that is the daftest thing i have heard in a long time.